The Acotel Group, a leading provider of multimedia platforms and applications to mobile network operators and media companies, and NDS, a News Corporation company, and a leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, have signed an MOU for the joint development of interactive TV services and digital rights management systems for mobile phones. This agreement heralds the launch of NDS’s mobile DRM solution.

Acotel and NDS will focus on a series of new applications that will enable TV users to interact with digital television systems – both free to air and encrypted – via the mobile phone. Future services may include pay-per-view movies and sports, and direct interaction with live programs.

NDS has a worldwide reputation for securely delivering content to a pay-TV environment – over 34 million subscribers worldwide, protecting $15 billion of revenues. This new solution for the mobile platform is a further development of NDS’s established technology to protect copyright and secure content with sophisticated encryption. NDS’s rights management solution represents one of the answers to combat fraud problems and will help broaden the number and range of content providers in the mobile market as well as the quality of their applications.

Acotel and NDS will share their expertise within their own markets. Acotel shares its knowledge of the value-added-services for mobile phones market, while NDS brings its worldwide experience and reputation in the pay-TV world, in content security and rights management.

This agreement will enable Acotel to strengthen its position in new value added business segments for mobile phones and future services will open the way to the development of new business models in the TV world.

About Acotel

Acotel is a leading provider of multimedia platforms and applications to mobile network operators and media companies around the world. Through its customer base, Acotel services more than 35 million end users and enabled 340 million paid text and multimedia messages in 2002. Founded in 1992, Acotel operates in 20 countries and is publicly traded on the Milan Stock Exchange. Acotel customers include IBM, Orange, Radio Hit Channel, Telecom Italia Mobile, Tiscali and Vodafone. For more information visit www.acotel.com

About NDS

NDS Group plc (NASDAQ/NASDAQ Europe:NNDS) is a leading supplier of open end-to-end digital pay TV solutions for the secure delivery of entertainment and information to television set-top boxes and IP devices. See http://www.nds.com/ for more information about NDS.

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